VN lychees head to France

Update:
June, 16/2015 - 09:38

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A farmer in the northern province of Hai Duong arranges lychees into boxes for enterprises to collect for processing. Vietnamese lychees are now being exported to Australia and will be further shipped to France this year. — VNA/VNS Photo Manh Minh

HA NOI (VNS) — Vietnamese lychees will be further shipped to France and distributed through Thanh Binh Jeune Company's supermarkets in Paris and Lyon this year, General Director of the company Ngo Minh Duong said.

About two to three tonnes of the fruit will be shipped. The company's first batch of nearly 600kg of lychees, exported to France early this month, was sold in three days. The second batch is selling well, thanks to the sweetness and freshness of the fruits.

At the Thanh Binh Jeune supermarkets in France, the fruit was selling for 9.9 euro per kilogram. This price is quite high compared with other fruits grown in France or imported ones such as apples, oranges, mandarins and plums, besides canary melons.

However, Vietnamese lychees are selling well because many overseas Vietnamese people living in France visit the supermarkets to buy it.

Duong said his company introduced the Vietnamese fruit to French customers on the occasion of the Viet Nam-France Friendship Day, held in Montreuil City on June 6.

Following the lychee imports, Thanh Binh Jeune Company will co-ordinate with the Vietnamese Embassy in France to import Hung Yen longans.

The company director said there was potential for exporting Vietnamese fruits to France if they were treated and could be preserved for a longer time.

Duong said the country's lychees, longans and Phu Quoc fish sauce should have trademarks to help the customers know their origin, building prestige and increasing the competitiveness of the Vietnamese products in the world market.

Vietnamese lychees are now being exported to Australia, a development hailed by that country's ambassador to Viet Nam, Hugh Borrowman.

Australian market

He said: "I am very pleased that the Australian market is now open for Vietnamese lychees. The first consignments arrived in Melbourne on Friday and will soon be in Australian shopping baskets."

"It is terrific that Australian consumers will have the opportunity to try these delicious fruit during the 2015 season, I am sure that they will enjoy this high-quality and flavoursome product - just like Vietnamese consumers enjoy eating Australian fruits such as table grapes, citrus and cherries."

The envoy added that "the finalisation of the import conditions is the culmination of a great deal of work by the Vietnamese Plant Protection Department, Vietnamese industry and the Australian Department of Agriculture".

Vietnamese lychees are harvested during the off-season for their Australian lychees. — VNS